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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

I look at a lot of factors when choosing the best stocks to buy. But underneath it all, my roots as a technical investor run the deepest. I got my start in “modern portfolio theory” and I have been on the quantitative analysis side most of my professional life.

That doesn’t mean I don’t see the value in the fundamentals. I do. And I have dedicated my career to finding the bright path that forges both fundamental and technical analysis to show me the best stocks in the markets today.

Here are seven stocks with momentum on their side. They’re all top-rated companies overall, but right now, they’re looking especially strong technically. This is a great time to move into them for their short-term potential, but they also have what it takes to thrive in the long term.

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And now is a great time to get in.

Prices and data are from the original InvestorPlace story published on July 14, 2017. Click on ticker-symbol links in each slide for current prices and more.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

Broadcom

Broadcom (AVGO) is one of those tech companies that has been around a long time, in various incarnations. It began in the 1960s as part of the legendary Bell Labs research and development group, where it developed the first LED pixels for screens and handheld devices.

Since then, it has been spun off and recombined with major industry leaders as technologies have waxed and waned. Now it is a leader in the most promising technologies of the future as well as the most in-demand tech of the day. AVGO equipment is in cable set-top boxes, mobile phones, radio towers and streaming services (on both the back and front ends).

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And AVGO will be a leader in artificial intelligence for driverless cars and smart machines, as well as game-changing technologies like the internet of things.

AVGO is up 40% year to date and it’s just starting a run as big tech firms gear up for the next wave in mobile and machine learning demand.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

Coca-Cola Bottling

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (COKE) is the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S. Basically, COKE is a regional spinoff of The Coca-Cola Co. (KO). KO has a number of bottlers around the world who also distribute soft drinks of other partner companies as well. In COKE’s case, about 90% of its revenue comes from Coke-branded products.

COKE operates in 16 states, predominantly in the Southeast and Midwest U.S. In those states, it has 12 manufacturing facilities and 86 distribution warehouses.

While KO may have struggles on the global front, COKE is more focused play on the regional U.S. market. And regardless of its brand mix — soft drinks or water or health drinks — COKE is responsive to increasing summertime demand.

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With KO’s current restructuring issues, COKE is a smart alternative with far fewer variables, like currency exchange issues, etc. Up nearly 30% year-to-date, this hot summer in the East and Midwest is perfect for COKE.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

FedEx

FedEx Corporation (FDX) has been an over achieving underdog since its beginnings. While at Yale in the late 1960s, FDX founder Fred Smith wrote a paper discussing the need for a disruptive idea in the logistics of shipping packages. His professor gave him a “C.”

Undeterred, Smith started FedEx in 1971. And after a bumpy start, it’s now one of the largest airline fleets in the world and continues to be one of U.S. Postal Service’s top partners.

Nowadays there’s the swirl of the next disruption in the logistics world as Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is building its own fleet of planes and trucks, as well as Uber moving into the same-day delivery market.

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But FDX knows how to compete as well as how to build win-win partnerships with competitors. Up 17% this year so far, FDX won’t be troubled by encroaching competitors for a long time to come. And with e-commerce surging, this is a great time to buy a great company.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from wind and sun resources. While its regulated utility subsidiary Florida Light and Power and its 4.9 million customers are a direct beneficiary of its renewable resources, NEE also has unregulated operations in over 30 states.

NEE is a new-style energy company. In the old days, companies like Enron gave deregulation a bad name, building a Wild West culture outside the regulated utility space.

Now many utilities are using deregulated divisions to sell wholesale power to industry, trade carbon credits to dirtier producers and help companies and governments build greener energy supplies.

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Recently, super-investor Warren Buffett was trying to buy NEE, but was rebuffed. That tells you NEE has plenty of value locked up in its business. Up 18% year to date, it also delivers a nice 2.8% dividend.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) was the disruptor-in-chief when founder Steve Wynn built his signature Wynn Las Vegas in 2005.

While other casinos in Vegas were still catering to conventions and U.S.-based customers, Wynn saw opportunity in catering to high net worth Asian customers. While most casinos were loud and proud, Wynn’s projects tended to be low-key, with more tables than slots, and high-end restaurants and entertainment.

They were more subdued and less stereotypical Vegas establishments. It worked so well, most casinos that have been built since then (and those that have remodeled) have used Wynn as their touchstone. WYNN also got in early in the Chinese gaming Mecca of Macau. He bought property and built three casino resorts there.

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Wynn Resorts is about style over volume and it has paid off. WYNN stock is up 51% this year and Macau is the new Vegas, with gaming revenue growing there by double-digits for the past 11 months.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

Western Digital

Western Digital Corp (WDC) is one of the top memory makers in the world. Computer memory, that is. As devices have become more portable, it has challenged memory chip makers to find ways to deliver increasingly large amounts of data to ever smaller devices. And, to do it by using less energy, since most mobile devices are operating off batteries, not plugged into a wall.

Since 1970, WDC has been at the leading edge of that challenge.

Right now, WDC is in a battle with Toshiba Corp (TOSYY) over a joint chip making factory. TOSYY is in dire straights and is trying to sell its memory chip business, but won’t sell it to WDC. And WDC won’t let it sell to anyone else.

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This hasn’t stopped WDC stock from gaining nearly 40% year-to-date and raising its guidance for the year. And it now looks like both sides are coming to some sort of agreement over the fate of the factory, which is likely to boost interest in WDC even more.

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Practical Advice from

7 Stocks With Momentum on Their Side

Take Two Interactive

Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) is one of the top video gaming companies around. Its most notable franchise is Grand Theft Auto (GTA), which is currently in its fifth sequential iteration.

According to market research firm SuperData Research, online gaming was a $91 billion industry in 2016. Research firm Markets and Research estimated that this sector will growth about 10% a year for at least the next three years. This is a significant growth industry and knowing the best stocks can be very rewarding. TTWO is one of those stocks.

GTA V has sold 80 million copies since its 2013 launch (at $60 a pop), 5 million in the first three months of this year. And now, it has a new version of its other hot game, Red Dead Redemption 2 (R2D2) early next year. And this highly anticipated release isn’t yet priced into the stock.

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And this says nothing about its other stable of licensed games as well as the new opportunities that virtual and augmented reality promise. Up 55% year to date, TTWO has plenty to look forward to.